Generally the order of arguments doesn't mater, but there are of course exceptions. For example if you provide multiple -O flags it will be the last one that is used, the same for other flags.

Libraries are a little different though, because for them the order is significant. If object file or library A depends on library B, then A must come before B on the command line. This is because of how the linker scans for symbols: When you use a library the linker will check if there are any symbols that could be resolved. Once this scan is over the library is discarded and will not be searched again.

This means when you have -lorocos-kdl -lkdl_parser test.cpp the linker will scan the libraries orocos-kdl and kdl_parser first, notice that there aren't dependencies on these library, no symbols from the libraries are needed, and continue with the object file generated by the source file.

When you change the order to test.cpp -lorocos-kdl -lkdl_parser the linker will be able to resolve the undefined symbols referenced by test.cpp when it comes to the libraries.